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Secrets of Offenbach
Secrets of Offenbach is a mod for registered Wolfenstein, made by Thomas Weiling. It was released on July 28, 2005. After releasing four mods in four months, Secrets of Offenbach took considerably longer to finish, though most of the product went lost. What was eventually released as Secrets of Offenbach in July 2005 was in fact the most recent surviving version of the mod, circa March 2005. Genesis Having grown tired and frustrated with not being able to do the heavily coded Project Wolfgeist any justice, Thomas released an unfinished version of that mod. Another mod which was slated for release, Uber Deutschland, likewise fell by the wayside. Thomas then experimented with coding himself, but without any satisfactory results. This experiment, titled Giftkrieg, later became known (and released as an archive curio) as Schabbs 7000. This was an early take on what was to become Secrets of Offenbach. Initially, an Italian coder who Thomas had chatted with via The Wolf Planet Forums (which were run by Mario Maniac and Mega Luigi) signed up to do the coding: Flamer46. Flamer46 was quick to respond and did the coding quite fast. Two new enemies were attempted to be added, and though they initially worked, it was something in that particular bit of coding that caused the EXE to fail. Although seamless level flow, new wall textures and new objects were implemented without fault, the EXE still lay dormant for a couple of weeks. In this phase, it was known as Projekt Amerika: And the two new enemies were Japanese soldiers. The storyline was loosely based on a possible invasion of the United States by Nazi Germany and Japan. A quick association with Blade Nightflame, a Slovene coder who had recently joined the DieHard Wolfers' forum, would come and go, attempting to salvage the coding problem. During February 2005, Thomas had struck up conversation with coder Havoc, and the two would collaborate on many projects from this moment on. Havoc was presented the EXE, and knew what to do. But in keeping with making it easy and ready to go as quickly as possible, Thomas stipulated that the two new enemies idea was off the table. Instead, a classic-inspired EXE with simple changes was made. The first maps were made in the first weekend of February 2005 and would revitalize Thomas' gist for mapping after the failure of Project Wolfgeist. Mapping continued forward, with small breaks. Two quick side projects came and went; Tod and Abandon 2: Purgatory!, which in the style of preceding work, was quickly disowned by Thomas. Come spring 2005, Thomas took his first break from mapping, his first after nine months of continuous map making. Coming back after four weeks of not having much to do with modding, his mapping skills improved, mainly due to playing Schabbs 2000, Assassinate Hitler. Though Thomas had played these mods shortly after discovering the Wolf community in mid-2003, it was only a good while after that the mapping style of Gary Ragland stood out to him as being those truest to form, and from this point forward, Thomas would rely on that particular style for his mapping. Come the summer, the mapping got more and more streamlined, and a number of screenshots were posted on the Dome in June 2005. Though being classic in style, a lot of graphics were changed. Some came from the Image World, but others were found in mods by Mega Luigi and Mario Maniac, WSJ, Western Wall I, Spear Resurrection and old favorites The Final Solution and Operation Panzerschiff. Release Though mapping progressed, and Thomas got more and more into MapEdit (now using Chris Chokan's 8.5 patch) the concept of saving each map was still alien to Thomas. In late July 2005, 42 levels were finished, including the middle section of the mod which contained laboratories and nuclear storage facilities. On the morning of July 28, 2005, ready to continue mapping, Thomas was met with the message that the game mapping files had been corrupted. At this point, many graphics had been replaced since the initial March 2005 copy that was salvaged by Havoc. The March 2005 copy did not showcase Thomas' improved mapping skills, and it was out of grief and frustration that this particular copy was released. Having long since changed computers many times and never owning a proper USB stick or external hard drive until 2010, the original corrupted game mapping files have long been lost. Adamant to show that his mapping skills had improved, Thomas quickly assembled his next mod, Nazi Operation, releasing a demo only one week after the event. Finally learning to master the art of backing up your files and keeping them, no other files were lost for other of Thomas' projects ever again. Leaved Wolfenstein Still coming to grips with his English skills, Thomas had envisioned a concept of forgotten ideas and storylines in Wolfenstein 3D. In the wake of End of Destiny, being fascinated with The Final Solution, Totengraeber and obscure mods from the early 2000's was not particularly well received. The concept of Leaved Wolfenstein was left behind after the initial reboot after taking the four week long break in spring 2005, and a new title screen was made. This was sadly lost as well during the July 28, 2005 event, which also saw all levels (including those that were released) overhauled to match his new-found style. Certain areas in Project Wolfgeist also had Leaved in the name, e.g. a laboratory level (5). The mod was released in SDL on June 19, 2013. It was ported by Andy Nonymous with assistance from Havoc. As with other early projects, Thomas had envisioned to re-do the mod with levels in style with his mid-2005 mods to complete the mod and make it a better play. One level was finished for this project. But as with the other early mods, this idea was abandoned. This would be Thomas' final full mod released under the moniker Possum Trot. The name was abandoned in September 2005, and he would from this moment on instead use his real name. Old Secrets of Offenbach VSWAP In 2015, Officer-Michael John released a VSWAP replacement for Secrets of Offenbach. It contains Secrets Of Offenbach VSWAP old files.It does not look the same as the 2001 May/June announcements snapshots. But for the most part itIt contains Secrets Of Offenbach VSWAP old files. It does not look the same as the 2001 May/June announcements screenshots. But for the most part it looks the same. The voices did not even know that it was originally. You enjoy the old Secret Of Offenbach desing. Old_1.png Old_2.png Old_3.png External links * Download Secrets of Offenbach (SDL) at The Wolfenstein 3D Vault * Old Secrets of Offenbach VSWAP at ModDB * Thread on DieHard Wolfers * News at the Dome * News at the Dome: MAY/JUN 2005 Category:2005 mods Category:DOS mods Category:SDL mods Category:Mods Category:Registered Wolfenstein 3D Category:Mods with more than ten levels